The Waterboys

Docker’s sophomore effort (after 2005’s Someone Else’s Country) is a strangely haunting, racially charged adventure that moves back and forth through three centuries of Australian history with dizzying fluidity. In a parched postapocalyptic future, water supplies are strictly controlled by the despotic Water Board, while the native “blackfullas” struggle to maintain their independence. Caught in the middle is Conway, a “whitefulla” whose ability to find water makes him valuable for both sides. The Water Board wants him back, but he’s embraced the way of the Country. As his dreams catapult him between past and present, he envisions pivotal moments in Australia’s earliest colonial days while dealing with more immediate threats. Steeped in Aboriginal mythology and culture, the story weaves together historical moments, dystopian action, and symbolism-laden dreams with increasing complexity. The final result is a beautiful but often confusing tale that may prove daunting to the casual reader. (May)